Release mechanism



April 7, 1942. E. M. ROEDER ETAL.

RELEASE MECHANISM Filed May 15, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS f'vsxerr M R0505:

ILL/AM JIMQ/Vso/V A ORNEYS April 1942- E. M. ROEDER ET AL 2,278,588

RELEASE MECHANISM Filed May 15, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS fvcxzrr 7- Rosana BY MLL MM \slmomsaiv Patented Apr. 7, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RELEASE HIECHANISM Everett M. Roeder, Merrick, and William Simonson, Mineola, N; Y., assignors to Remington Arms Company, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application May 15, 1940, Serial No. 335,250

Claims. ((31. 12432)' This invention relates to release devices for target throwing traps and more particularly to an improved electrical release therefor, adaptable to various types of target traps now in common use.

In electrical devices for target trap control and release, it is desirable that they be so made as to consume the minimum of power, as the location of the trap is usually at a place where sources of power other than batteries are not available or are not convenient for use. The improved electrical release disclosed herein uses a minimum of power in the releasing action, and the operation of the trap, including the return movement of the parts thereof, is used to cock the necessary springs in readiness for the next operation.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled target trap and release with some of the parts cut away.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken in the direction 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view partially in section from the side of the trap opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, and with the middle part of the frame broken away.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of the release and the operating cam lever taken in the direction 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view similar to Fig. 1, except that the parts are shown in cocked position.

By way of example the invention will be discussed in conjunctionwith a target trap of the 7 general type shown by Spangler, Patent No. 1,563,780. It is to be understood, however, that this is merely for the purpose of illustration and that the invention is not limited tothe specific form shown.

The trap is usually cocked by hand and a restraining means employed to prevent operation thereof until the restraining means is released by a suitable trigger or release mechanism. It is necessary that the releasing means be so constructed that very little power or energy will be expended in the operation which releases the same. Thismeans that a spring or similar source of energy must be stored to operate the release or restraining means. This will require the expenditure of a large amount of energy to cock the spring. A general description of the operation of a target trap of the type to which this invention may be adapted will now be given.

In Fig. 1, I9 is the base, II a frame, and I2 a carrier arm which has been broken away for a simplification of the drawings. Thiscarrier arm may be of any of the well-known types, upon which the target is placed and which is rotated rapidly by the pivoted shaft I 3 upon release of the trap, the target being projectedby reason of the energy imparted thereto by rotation of the carrier arm. A spring [4 has one end thereof fastened to an arm located on shaft l3 and the other end to a stud l5 on arm l6. Arm I6 is pivoted at I! upon the frame ll. When the trap is cooked, the carrier arm will be held in its rearward position, and the arm l6 will be held in its rearward position, putting tension upon the spring 14 which upon release of the trap, will rotate the carrier. The arm I6 is heldin its rearward positionby means of the tension bar I8, which is pivoted at l9 to arm l6 and is journalled in a portion 29 located on frame H. The tension bar l8 has a step 2| (Fig. 3) which cooperates with-the upper portion 22 of guide to hold arm H3 in its rearward or cooked position. A spring 23 tends to move the tension bar l8 upwardly and into engagement with the shoulder 2| of the portion 22. The carrier arm has a depending lug 58 (Fig. 5) that engages the notch 24 of the carrier sear 25 (Fig. 5). The carrier sear 25 rotates about the pin 26 located on frame II. In the position shown in Fig. 1, the carrier sear 25 is in its released position after having released the carrier, and a portion thereof overlies the latch arm 28 which has been moved downwardly. In Fig. 5, the carrier sear is shown in its cocked position with the shoulder 29 of latch 28 engaging shoulder 21 of the sear 25 and the stud 58 engaging notch 24. The force of spring 84 tending to rotate the carrier also tends to rotate the carrier sear 25, but is prevented from so doing by the engagement of shoulders 2'! and 29 when the latch 28 is in its upper or cooked position. The latch is held in an upward position by a restraining means 30 (Fig. 5). It can be seen that when the latch is in its upper position and held there by restraining means 30, the carrier arm will be inits cocked position with the lug 58 engaging notch 24 of sear 25, sear 25 having been rotated in a clockwise direction so that shoulders 29 and 21 engage. A spring 59 urges latch 28 in an upward direction.

The spring [4 is cooked by means of a manual lever of some suitable description, rotating arm 3! in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 1), moving lever 32 to the left or rearwardly through connection 33. A suitable lug 9 or other engaging means is provided so that the rearwardmovement of 32 will carry with it the arm 15. Rearward movement of arm It puts tension upon spring [4 and moves the tension bar l8, it being assumed that the carrier is in its neutral or returned position, as shown in Fig. 5. Upon movement of lever [6 a sufficient distance to the rear, the step 2| of tension bar I8 (Fig. 3) will have moved so that the spring 23 will cause it to move upwardly and engage the shoulder of 22. In this position, the trap is cocked and the spring I4 is under tension, tending to rotate the carrier I2. Upon release of the latch 28 by rectilinear movement of the restraining means 30, the force tending to rotate the carrier sear 25 will act upon the latch 28 to rotate it in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 1) until the shoulders 21 and 29 become disengaged, thereby releasing the carrier arm which is rotated about pivot i3 by the energy stored in the spring I4. The cam arm 34, which is rotated with the shaft l3, will engage the end of lever 35, which will rotate shaft (Figs. 1 and. 3). Shaft 36 is carried in the frame H and may have on the other end thereof a projection 31 (Fig. 3). Contact of 34 with arm 35 will tend to move shaft 36 in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 1) or clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3. As the carrier arm continues in its rotation to 180 or a little over that, the arm 35 passes over the cam 34. The spring M at this time has completed its movement and, as the carrier arm continues its movement beyond 180, the spring again starts to have tension applied thereto, due to the inertia of the parts, which stops the carrier arm and starts it to move in its return direction. As it swings in its return direction, the cam 34 engages the other side of arm 35 and moves it in a clockwise direction (Fig. 1), counter-clockwise (Fig. 3). Referring to Fig. 3, the counter-clockwise movement of 36 causes arm 31 to operate upon tension bar It, and release the tension bar from engagement with shoulder 2|. This releases the arm I5 and, as the carrier continues in its return direction, the connection between the shaft 13, spring 14 and arm l6, will cause the arm to be rotated towards the front of the trap without any tension being placed upon spring l4. It is seen that this allows the free return of the carrier arm to its initial or cooked position. As the carrier arm lug 58 contacts notch 24 of the sear 25, the sear will be rotated and the latch arm 28 will rise under the influence of a suitable spring 59, thereby again cocking the releasing means. For another operation of the trap it is necessary through the manual means and lever 31 to again cock the spring of the trap as just described. It is necessary that the tension bar I8 be released as described, for otherwise there would be insufficient energy in the return movement of the carrier arm to return the carrier arm to its cocked position. Movement of the restraining means 39 inwardly or rectilinearly serves to release the latch arm 28. Movement of the restraining means 30 is prevented in this invention by the pivoted lever 38, which is held from movement by the release sear armature 39. The release armature 39 may be actuated by suitable magnetic means 40 which in turn is energized through wires 41 by some control release means, such as, for example, that disclosed in the application of Roeder (S. N. 231,225). The wires 4| may be connected to the binding posts 60 for convenience. Movement of the restraining means 39 to ineffective position is produced by the action of the cam lever 42. This lever is pivoted at 43 in the frame 44 of the trap release device. It may be provided with a suitable surface, such as at 45, to engage a cooperating cam surface 46 located on the restraining means 39. A spring 41 is fastened to the cam lever at 48 and to the frame at 49 in any suitable manner. The tension of this spring acting on the cam lever 42 will tend to move the restraining means 30 to ineffective position, but this movement is prevented by the pivoted lever 38 and release sear 39, when they are in cocked position. A spring 50 may be located in a suitable aperture in the frame 44 to urge the re straining means to its effective position or to the left, as seen in Fig. 2. A suitable pin 5! may be also provided to engage with a shoulder or notch in the restraining means 30, to retain the restraining means within the frame of the release device. Assuming that the trap is cocked with the latch lever supported on the restraining means 30, operation of the magnetic means 40 will draw the release armature 39 towards the magnet, which will free the pivoted lever 38- The action of the spring 41 upon cam lever 42 will then tend to move the restraining means 30 Y to the right in Fig. 2, or to ineffective position,

because the release 39 in its operation will allow rotation of pivoted lever 38 about its pivot 52. After the trap and carrier arm in its target throwing movement have returned to the cooked position as indicated in Fig. 5, it is necessary that the restraining means 30 be returned to its effective position. This is done in the present invention by the movement of the lever 16 after the tension bar l8 has been released, as previously described, which occurs as the carrier lever is returning to its cocked position. The movement of lever l6 towards the front of the trap causes contact thereof with the lower portion 53 of the cam lever 42, which removes or withdraws the cam surface from its engagement with the cam surface 46 of the restraining means. Thus, when the latch 28 has again been raised to its upward position, the light spring will move the restraining means 39 to its effective position or to the left in Fig. 2, which will allow pivoted lever 38 to be drawn upwardly by its spring 54. The release armature 39 will then be rotated and drawn into engagement with pivoted lever 38 by the spring 55, the sear notch 56 of 39 engaging the notch 51 of pivoted lever 38. After this, the trap may be again cocked manually, and it is ready for the next operation, which may be initiated by a magnetic impulse of the magnet 49. The lever 39 may be allowed to extend downwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the trap can be released manually by pressing upon release sear 39. With a very small force exerted upon release sear 39 with a correspondingly small amount of almost instantaneous electric current to magnet 40, the trap will be released, the energy for movement of restraining means 30 being supplied by spring 41 through cam arm 42, and cam surfaces 45 and 45. The spring 41 is cooked or the force exerted by the cam arm 42 is removed from restraining means 30, so that the parts will return to their normal position by the action of lever l6, which is an incident to the target throwing operation of the trap. It is to be understood that this is not the only manner in which the target throwing movement may be utilized to allow the restraining means to return to its effective position.

It is seen that by this invention a suitable trap release has been made that is easy to manufacture, has few moving parts, and uses a minimum of electric power, which will allow the use of the ordinary dry cell battery, such as the type known as a Hot Shot battery.

It is obvious that the invention is susceptible to many other variations, all falling within the scope of the appended claims, which claims are to be broadly construed.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the control of the release of a target trap having a target throwing movement comprising: a latch; a restraining means therefor; means urging said restraining means toeffective position; a pivoted lever having a cam for moving said restraining means to ineffective position; electrically operated means releasably' holding said restraining means in effective position; means to render said pivoted lever and cam ineffective as an incident to the target throwing movement so that the restraining means may return to efifective position.

2. Apparatus for the control of the release of a target trap having a target throwing movement comprising: a latch; a restraining means therefor; means urging said restraining means to effective position; a pivoted lever having a cam for moving said restraining means to ineffective position; magnetically operated means releasably holding said restraining means in effective position; a projection on said pivoted lever to render said lever and cam ineffective operated as an incident to the target throwing movement following operation of the magnetically operated means so that the restraining means will return to effective position.

3. Apparatus for the control of the release of a target trap having a target throwing movement comprising: a latch arm; a rectilinearly moving plunger adapted to engage and hold said latch arm; means urging said plunger to latch arm engaging position; a lever having a cam engagement with said plunger for moving said plunger to ineffective position; a spring urging said lever to plungermoving position; and means for moving said lever as an incident to the target throwing movement of the trap to allow the plunger to return toengaging position.

4. Apparatus for the control of the release of a target trap having a target throwing movement comprising: a latch arm; a rectilinearly moving plunger adapted to engage and hold said latch arm; means urging said plunger to latch arm engaging position; a lever having a cam engag'ement with said plunger for moving said plunger to ineffective position; means for holding said plunger against movement by said lever including a magnet and a sear operated by the magnet; a spring urging said lever to plunger moving position; and -means for moving said lever as an incident to the target throwing movement of the trap to allow the plunger to return to latch engaging position.

5. Apparatus for the control of the release of a target trap having a target throwing movement comprising a latch arm; a rectilinearly moving plunger adapted to engage and hold said latch arm; means urging said plunger to latch arm engaging position; a lever having a cam' engagement with said plunger for moving said plunger to ineffective position; means for holding said plunger against movement by said lever including a magnet, a sear, and a'pivoted lever, said pivoted lever engaging the plunger and being re- .leasably held in place by the sear; a spring urg-v ing said lever to plunger moving position; and means for moving said lever as an incident to the target throwing movement of the trap to allow the plunger to return to latch engaging position.

EVERETT M. ROEDER. WILLIAM SIMONSON. 

